By Ashley Cecil, Meridian FFA Reporter

The Meridian FFA Chapter competed in three events at the Boise Valley District Career Development Events (CDE’s) and State Degree Sifting , earlier this month.  These events included Prepared Public Speaking, Extemporaneous Public Speaking, and the FFA Creed.  This district activity took place at Kuna High School.

 In the Creed Speaking CDE Kristen Nesbitt placed 4^th after placing first at the chapter Creed Speaking Event.  She had to recite the memorized 5 paragraphs of the FFA Creed written by E.M. Tiffany in 1928. After reciting the creed, participants are asked three questions about the creed.

Janine Johnson placed 1^st in the Extemporaneous Speaking CDE. Janine was given her topic 30 minutes before the event and had to compose and partially memorize a speech that is between 4 and 6 minutes long.   Presenters must also answer questions regarding their speech, after they are done.

In the Prepared Speaking event, Brett Wilder also placed 1^st. His topic for this event was Listeria Monocytogenes. He entitled his speech “Rare- But Deadly,” in which he talked about food safety.  Both Brett and Janine earned berths at the State CDE’s in Twin Falls later this Spring.

Seven members of the Meridian FFA chapter survived sifting to earn recommendation for their State FFA Degrees.  Earning the state degree involves taking an FFA knowledge exam, and a test on Parliamentary Procedure.  Applicants also needed a  complete a record book explaining what their Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) was; this record also shows a members involvement in FFA, at or above the District level and the hours of community service logged.  Each applicant must earn or invest $1000 or have equity in hours, have completed 25 hours community service, and complete a list of other requirements.  Members who were recommended for their State Degrees  include Ashley Cecil, Megan Duff, Reagan Fowler, Melissa Goetz, Mitchell Jackson, Justin Nesbitt, and Matthew Stokes.  State Degrees will also be conferred in Twin Falls, later this Spring.